Not the people they will be
by Thomatshu
Summary: What if things with Chris had gone very different in season 6. Conflict drives a wedge between him and his family. When they ultimately find out the truth, will Chris be as forgiving. Or will the charmed ones have burned every bridge between them? AU from season 6 episode 12. Will not always be canon compliant. Starts T but could grow to M in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Charmed. Someone else created the world where I play with the characters they populated it with, creating my own stories with the only purpose to entertain.

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Welcome to this charmed story!

When watching the sixth season of charmed, I found that the sisters treated Chris very badly. But he took it like a champ and said "Hey, don't sweat it! Come here mom. *big hugs*". In my opinion no so realistically. So I decided to make my own version of season 6, were not everything goes as smooth. This story will evolve to a Chris-revelation but this is not the biggest part and it will evolve much further, dealing with the fallout.

We go AU from episode 12 in season 6. Most of the background story will be canon up till then, but not everything. Some surprises will be there :)

I hope you enjoy the read!

Thomatshu

ps.: I have a lot of work that comes and goes as it pleases. So I will not be able to keep a certain release schedule for new chapters. They will come when I find the time and inspiration to write.

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They were all standing together in the attic: Leo, the three charmed ones, Chris and Prince perfect. Only Wyatt was missing because he was just kidnapped. Taken by the same demons that Chris had been warning the sisters for the whole day. Not only had they ignored him, they also lost their precious time in some useless "normal life" frenzy. If they just would have listened to him, this would never have happened.

But Chris couldn't lose time now. He needed to save his big brother. And fast because the results of this event could be devastating.

Desperately he tried to get the girl into the action.

"Hey listen to me for once! We need to go and get Wyatt! … What are you doing?" Chris asked surprised when the three sisters and Leo ganged up on him, anger displayed on their faces.

"The pheromones wore off." Phoebe said.

"Right after they took my son." Piper continued, angrily glaring at him.

"You don't seriously believe this is my fault, do you?" Chris asked taking the hint, shocked at their suggestion.

"Oh, right, so it's just a big coincidence we all fell under Mr. Right's spell?" Piper questioned.

"And suddenly we all want to bind Wyatt's powers?" Phoebe added.

"You see, Chris, what they really want is for you…" David, the prince perfect, started.

"Is for you to leave." Piper finished.

At these words an ache shot through Chris' heart. He could not believe what he was hearing. The same women, which once would be his mother, and his family wanted nothing more than to kick him out of the house. Together with the pain another feeling erupted. Anger. How could they believe that he ever would purposefully put Wyatt in danger? He had never given them a reason to think that.

He was brought back to the situation at hand when David started to say something.

"Oh shut up you!" Chris yelled to David before making a hand motion, resulting in the prince fading out of existence.

"I can't fucking believe it. Okay, I admit. I altered Mister Perfect by adding another wish. But only so you three would do what needed to be done instead of ignoring everything I say. So what gives you the fucking right to blame me for Wyatt's kidnapping?" he yelled to the sisters.

"Eh, maybe the fact that you continuously lie and trick us?" Leo screamed back.

"Like I got a choice! Do you want to know why I have to keep doing these things? Well let me tell you, oh-holy-elder and almighty sisters. Because it looks like I'm the only fucking person in this room that seems to care about what happens to Wyatt. For fucks sake, I warned you all that this would happen. But did you listen? NO! You were too busy wallowing over your own lives to think about that of your son and nephew." Chris roared.

"We have to go to our jobs." He mimicked female voices. "We don't want all this magic business, we want our lives to be more normal."

"Well I got a big, fucking surprise for you all. You HAVE magic! So as much as you want a normal life the demons and other creatures don't give a shit. It's not because the almighty charmed ones want something that it also happens." Chris continued.

"The only reason I had to use Mister Perfect is because none of you would listen to me this morning. What choice did I have but taking matters into my own hands? And now you stand here accusing me that I am the reason all this happened?"

"The last couple of months I went on two, maybe three, hours of sleep every day, researching and vanquishing demons, putting my own life at risk. Offering up my own health. All in order to prevent Wyatt from turning evil, to protect him. And for what? To be treated like crap by Phoebe, Piper and Leo? To every time I ask for help to be shot down and verbally or physically assaulted because you don't have time for it or because you don't like me or the things I say? Your arrogance and overestimation of your powers as charmed ones borders on the insane. And who is going to pay the price for it when it all goes wrong? Oh that is right: WYATT and the whole fucking FUTURE!" Chris vented his frustration and anger at how he was treated.

Piper and Phoebe looked like they were ready to start a verbal offensive, while Leo was ready to murder him.

"To prevent Wyatt from turning evil? I thought you said you were here to prevent him from getting hurt?" said Paige, the only one who had kept silent up to this point and was still somewhat level-headed.

Chris cursed inside. In his anger he had revealed something he would have liked to have kept hidden from them. He should really be more careful, he scolded himself.

"They are one and the same. From the information we gathered we learned that something happened to Wyatt when he was young. We couldn't pinpoint exactly when it happened but we narrowed the event down to a reasonable timeframe before another certain event that I can't talk about. We believe whatever it was that happened scarred him and was the reason for him turning evil and becoming the new source. In my past, your future, Wyatt went on to expose magic and enslave both the mortal and magic world, meanwhile butchering all who tried to stand up for themselves or the innocents, everyone who opposed his domination. And let's be honest he killed some just for fun or because he could and was bored."

Paige was obviously going to ask a question, the others were too stunned to react, but he silenced her non-magically by putting up one finger before continuing. Something in his stance made her clear that speaking up would not be a good idea.

"The reason I didn't tell you is because I didn't think you would believe me. Hell I still think you won't believe me. How would it have sounded? 'Hey I am from the future and I am here to prevent your son turning in the biggest evil the world has ever seen?' That would have gone well. Like you would have believed me. The rest is simple logic. When you don't believe me you will not help me, not that I had much help now though so in the end it didn't make much difference. Anyway I decided to tell you the truth, but not the whole truth. That I tried to prevent him from getting hurt." He tried to explain, knowing they probably wouldn't listen anyway.

The shit-storm he expected was nothing compared to the force of the heads-on-full-force-three-way-frontal assault that was unleashed on him. Two, what a bystander would describe as bat-shit-crazy, women and one man, someone could describe looking like he was an axe wielding killer looking at his next target, started showering him with yelling and insults.

"How dare you!" Piper yelled at him.

"You are lying!" Phoebe followed next.

"That can't be true!" Leo shipped in.

"Why should we ever trust you?" It was Phoebes turn again.

"Not my small pumpkin! He could never be evil!" Piper yelled out.

"The prophecy said that he would be the greatest source of good magic ever to be seen!" Leo tried.

"You piece of filth, how dare you accuse my nephew like that." Phoebe felt like she needed to add.

"It bet it is you!" Piper suddenly whispered. The room went silent. "I bet you are evil yourself. I bet you are the one trying to turn him. What? You couldn't match up to him in your time and now you went here to corrupt an innocent little baby into joining your side?"

These words cut through him like a hot knife through butter. He couldn't believe what they just said. How could they. After all he had done to protect his family. To protect his brother. Anger flared up. Anger that he no longer could control completely and started to spill through.

"How dare you." He whispered and though he had whispered everyone in the room had clearly heard him. The sisters and Leo falling silent, feeling the shift that had taken place in the young whitelighter. Chris usually never showed any emotion on his face or in his stance. The only thing that normally held any emotion was his voice which was frequently filled with the sound of annoyance. But now both his face and voice showed clear anger.

"How dare you!" He continued louder. "How dare you stand there accusing me of being evil? Accusing me of being the one to turn Wyatt evil. I who have suffered beyond your imagination for this family. Who would willingly give my life for Wyatt. I who have done everything in my power to protect him. And you stand there accusing me of trying to harm him."

"I don't understand you all. Not once did I do something that endangered this family and especially not Wyatt's life." He continued. "To be honest more than once I saved your asses. Do you know how easy it would have been for me to harm one or all off you if I wanted? I can name more than ten occasions from the top of my head where I could have killed one of you and none of the rest would have been able to stop me or even so much as suspect me of the deed. But yet here you all stand. Safe and sound. Well everyone except Wyatt. Who has been kidnapped as a result of your incompetence if I might add. Oh yeah! I said it! You all like to think you are perfect and everything bad that happens is someone else's fault. But news-flash: that's not true. Most of that shit happen because of your incompetence and arrogance, as I have said before. So next time you are going to accuse me of things I'm not responsible for or off things I had nothing to do with, I suggest you shut the fuck up and think about your own faults and doings before pointing out someone else's."

His response stunned everyone present. Not only with his words but also with the authority he said them with. He was no longer the young, neurotic whitelighter they all had known for some months now. In front of their eyes stood a new man. A leader. A man who could move a crowd with his words. A man who gained respect because of the aura he displayed in his stance.

The only person not affected by this change was apparently Piper. After all she was known to be the most stubborn one of the living charmed ones, a close second to Prue. In her rage she had projected everything bad that had happened onto Chris, naming him and him alone the reason for it all. A rage that only grew with every word he said.

"But don't you get it, Chris? You are not a part of this family. So whatever you tell us, we will never trust you. And don't try to make this our fault. You came back from the future and since then all things went to hell." She told Chris.

"Now I'm going to make this crystal clear for once and for all. I don't want to see you anymore near my family. I don't want to see you anymore near this house. I don't want to see you anymore near the book. And most importantly, I don't want to see you near Wyatt ever again. You have 5 seconds to leave before I blast you out."

Chris was stunned. Nothing in the entire world could have shocked him as much as the words he just heard coming from his mother. No. Not his mother. The person who stand before him was nothing like his mother. Chris could not believe that they could be one and the same person. That this one would grow into the woman he loved unconditionally. The woman that had cared for him, that had loved him. The woman who had listened to him when he had something to tell. The woman who had cheered him up when he was feeling down, who was always there for him whenever and however he needed her. That woman would have recognized him immediately, would have known that he was her son. She would have felt the connection that exists through all planes and time streams between a parent and their children.

And suddenly he realized something. Maybe she could become that woman in the future for her sons she was going to raise.

But she would or could never again be that woman for him. Not now, not in the future. He would never again feel the warmth he had felt in the relationship with his mother. And with his brother fallen to the evil side, he stood alone. No mother. No brother. No aunts. And, even though he despised him and did not want to see him ever again, no father. No family.

It was his fight now. His and his alone.

To be continued.

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And there we end chapter 1.

Let me know what you think of the story so far. I always welcome feedback.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Charmed. Someone else created the world where I play with the characters they populated it with, creating my own stories with the only purpose to entertain.

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Hey Guys! I'm here with the second chapter of "Not the people they will be".  
But before I start I want to thank you all for all the amazing reactions I received on the first chapter.  
I never expected this amount of people still interested in Charmed after all these years. Shows the quality of a series, I guess :)

As this is only my third fanfiction (second one got deleted, guess it was too Mature for this site :p) I appreciate every amount of feedback I can get. As thus I would like to thank ElvesAtWork for alerting me to some typos in chapter one. I updated the chapter to fix them. If someone finds more please let me know in pm or in a review. I promise to fix them :)

Now on to chapter two. I hope you guys and girls enjoy it.

Greetings,

Thomatshu

Funfact: I rewrote chapter 2 from the ground up after rereading the first version I made. The first one didn't meet my standards I set for myself. This version was iterated three times to check the writing and to add/rework parts.

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_Previously on "Not the people they will be":_

_But she would or could never again be that woman for him. Not now, not in the future. He would never again feel the warmth he had felt in the relationship with his mother. And with his brother fallen to the evil side, he stood alone. No mother. No brother. No aunts. And, even though he despised him and did not want to see him ever again, no father. No family._

_It was his fight now. His and his alone._

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Even deep in thoughts, time goes on. Apparently more had passed than Piper would allow him.

"… and 5. Time's up. I told you I would blast you out of here and I meant it." Piper remarked and channeled her powers on Chris.

Woken from his deep thoughts, Chris remembered suddenly where he was and what situation he was in. His rage, which had been building up all evening, reached its peak the moment he realized Piper was channeling her powers on him. His own mother would use her powers on him, use them against her own flesh and blood.

He was so done with this family. They wanted to trade blows? He would play. He would teach them a thing or two about the dangers of magic.

Chris dropped in his combat stance he had perfected. It was so natural for him. A result of the years of constant vigilance and fighting that he was subjected too in the future. It was a reflex then. If he sensed any danger, there it was. On many occasions it had allowed him to survive a trap from or battle with Wyatt's legions.

This reflex had his downsides though. When he first came to the past he noticed that he still did it whenever entering a room. He realized that he had to try his hardest to prevent it from happening whenever one of the girls or Leo could see him. Otherwise it could lead to a lot of difficult questions. It would be rather suspicious for an ordinary whitelighter to drop into a fighting stance. Normally their tactics were to simply fee, after all.

With passing time he had gotten more control over this reflex. Especially in familiar places like the manor. Yet it still happened when he sensed danger.

In this stance he called upon his own powers. All of his powers. Not only the few ones he had shown the sisters before. No. If they wanted to challenge him, he would give them an idea of what they were dealing with. Show them he was no longer their plaything they could mess with when it pleased them.

With his powers channeled, Chris was just in time to wave his hand, deflecting the force off Piper's explosive power. A poor closet was sacrificed when it absorbed the power and exploded in a thousand sharp pieces. Sharp pieces that were send flying around the attic.

Before they could do any harm he had these same pieces disintegrating into dust with another wave of his hand.

Before the dust even could start to fall, Chris had already started making his next move. A simple upward motion with his left hand lifted Piper up in the air, before pushing his hand forwards, pinning Piper to the wall, steadily but with not too much force.

All this happened in less than a couple of seconds, giving no one even time to react.

Leo was the first one to recover though. Enraged by the fact that the charmed ones whitelighter held his ex-wife and mother of his child pinned up against the wall, he attacked Chris with his Elder powers, shooting the trademark blue lightning from his hands.

Chris didn't even so much as blink his eyes at Leo's attempt. He simply raised his hand and collected the electricity in it before shutting his hand and making it disappear, absorbing the energy.

"Nice one, Leo. But do you want to see some real lightning?" Chris asked, before green lightning of his own erupted from his hand towards the Elder, who suffered the whole strength of the impact and fell to his knees. Smoke coming from the resulting burns.

Meanwhile Phoebe decided she had to intervene. While Chris' attention was pointed towards Leo, she came closer, preparing to attempt a physical attack. She tried a kick to his head but with a speed Phoebe never held for possible he evaded the attack. In one fluent motion he flowed from his defensive, evasive move into an offensive one from his own, kicking Phoebe in the stomach and sending her flying backwards.

Before Leo or Phoebe could so much as process what just happened, Chris already made his next move, deciding to waste no time.

He pushed both hands forwards, generating a wave of energy that sent both the Elder and middle sister flying backwards into the wall, crashing through some tables, chairs and closets, or whatever else was stored in the attic, on their way there. Both fell to the floor, their bodies sending signals of pain to their brains from all over.

Still Chris was not satisfied. Allowing Phoebe and Leo no time to recuperate he raised his hands upwards, as if he was lifting someone of the ground with his hand on their throat. Both Phoebe and Leo were elevated in the air, dangling there, with an invisible force around their throats. Not enough pressure to strangle them but enough to cause serious discomfort and making it crystal clear that all their attempts to escape would be futile.

Satisfied, Chris lowered his arms again, joining his hands behind his back, like a teacher standing in class before his students, about to give a lecture.

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Paige had been very quiet all evening. Not speaking out against Chris but also not defending him. The problem was that she did not know what to think really. Like her sisters she did not fully trust Chris. He had too many secrets for that after all. But unlike Piper and Phoebe, she believed him when he said that his only reason he was in their time was to protect Wyatt. First she had had her doubts but when time went by and events occurred she noticed some things. Like how he was always in the line of fire in a demon attack. He never cowered back and was always next to or in front of the sisters, acting like a shield. As if he didn't care about his own wellbeing as long as they were save, especially when Wyatt was involved. This behavior stuck out to her because it was so unlike the other whitelighters she had known. So unlike Leo, who, as soon as trouble started, could be found in the back-line of their ranks.

Paige had also noticed the quick looks he sometimes gave when he thought no one was watching or when he was deep in thoughts. Those were not glances of someone who was plotting something evil. They were looks you give to someone you care about. They never lasted long but they were there if you just looked close enough. If you paid attention. Something she did but her sisters could not be bothered to do the same as it seems.

Unlike her sisters she also understood the need for secrecy. She too was curious and would have liked to know everything about their future. But she also understood that knowing too much could change their whole timeline. Maybe resulting in something good but with the same chance into something really, really bad. She understood that people were not supposed to know their future, letting their destiny play out. If she was told about her sisters earlier than she got to know them, it could have been her that died that day. Or her being there could have resulted in distracted sisters, resulting in even more deaths. It was dangerous to know too much. As such she only asked about the future or hinted at it in a playful way, not expecting or demanding an answer like Phoebe often did. She had noticed that Chris liked this little banter so she had continued doing it because she enjoyed it too.

Paying attention and engaging in banter, she came to realize she didn't dislike the guy. Okay he could be annoying when he was pushing his agenda for a vanquish or something similar, but on the rare occasions he was a bit more himself and not so much their neurotic whitelighter, she found that she rather liked him. Chris was just so easy to talk to as long as you avoided asking about the future and thus avoiding 'future consequences' answers. He was also very good in handling her sarcastic comments, giving back as good as she could give. It was rather refreshing given that while her sisters had learned to live with her sarcasm, they would often show their annoyance when she used it.

It also didn't hurt that he was easy on the eyes. In her opinion Chris was a handsome young man. Not like male supermodel handsome, but the kind of normal, natural and casual handsome. You didn't feel insecure or inadequate as a woman to be seen together with him because you felt that he spend more time in the bathroom preparing than you. No, it was an inherit kind of handsome that didn't need hours to achieve but that was always there. It were his eyes that appealed most to Paige. Those emerald colored eyes. Eyes that were too old for Chris' age. Eyes that reflected what he had been through, things he witnessed, things he had to do to survive. Eyes that also showed intelligence and wisdom beyond his years. Emerald colored eyes that showed he cared.

It was in those eyes that Paige saw the biggest change in Chris that evening.

The care they normally displayed had vanished. That evening the care had first been replaced with anger the moment the sisters and Leo had ganged up on him. A couple of minutes later that anger was replaced by hurt when Piper told him he was not family, threatened him with bodily harm and threw him out.

But what scared her the most was what happened after, when the hurt was replaced by a look of pure hatred and loathing the moment Piper tried to use her powers on him. In that moment she saw in those eyes she became to love what they had done to him. Something in him had been broken. Like they had destroyed some lifeline he was desperately clinging to.

This frightened her more than the amount of power he displaced. But did he show power. Never had she seen someone take out two of the charmed ones and an Elder with the ease Chris displaced. The only one who she thought would have been able to do the same was Cole when he was invincible.

Never had she guessed that the young witchlighter would pack the same punch.

Chris was no ordinary witchlighter like her after all, as she first thought. You either didn't notice him in the room or he was ever-present.

Ever-present like the moment he called upon his powers. Paige could feel it. Not only in her body, but she felt his presence also in her connection to her own magic. She couldn't compare or describe the feeling with anything else she ever felt before. The only thing she could think of that came close to describing what it was like would be saying that Chris was radiating a heat that you not only felt on your skin but also in your mind. A heat that was both physical and mental. It felt like if he wanted to he could incinerate them all with it with ease. A feeling that was enforced by the fact that she could see and feel that he was holding back, battling his own temper.

Fearing for her family, Paige tried to decide what to do next. In the attic was standing a person more powerful than they could ever have imagined, who held a sister and an ex- brother in law at their throat in the air and another sister pinned against the wall and all of that with apparently no effort whatsoever. The last thing she needed to do was piss him of more, give him another push towards the edge he was visibly trying not to fall off of. This all got out of hand the moment Piper tried to use her powers on him so the use of magic was out of the question. The only thing left she could try was to talk to him.

"Please, Chris. Don't do anything you might regret. Let's talk about this." She tried.

He looked at her and laughed. Chris laughed. It was not a cheerful laugh but a cynical one that felt like ice going through your heart.

"I think they had their fair share of talking, don't you think, Paige? I'm done listening. Now is their turn to hear what I have to say. But don't worry, I don't intend to harm them if they don't force me to." Chris said to Paige, before turning his attention back to the three persons floating in the air.

"Now, Piper, you may be wondering why you did not receive the same treatment as your ex-husband and sister here. The only reason is the fact that you are pregnant." Chris said, focusing on Piper first.

The shocked eyes of Paige, Phoebe and Leo widened, all looking at the stunned Piper.

"Oh, you didn't tell them yet?" he asked, correctly analyzing the situation. "Surprise!" he added sarcastically.

"Contrary to popular believe and the opinions of most of the people in this room, _I_'m not the person to endanger an innocent life for whatever reason. Especially not for the actions of one of its parents. So I will go easy on you and hope you get the message as clearly as the other two. But don't get me wrong, if you were not with child you too would have learned not to use your powers on me the hard way." Chris told Piper, whose fear and shock was clearly visible in her eyes.

"This is again an example of your stupidity and arrogance. You turn on an ally without reason and worst of all without preparation or understanding what you are dealing with."

"You go against someone without knowing about him or about his powers and influence. You made this mistake a couple of times in the past but you always managed to survive by some coincidence or stroke of luck. But let me tell you, Ladies, this won't always be the case. You attacked me without knowing how powerful I am. If I was evil, like you claim, Piper, you would be dead by now. I could end all of your lives right here and now without so much as breaking a sweat and there would be nothing you could do to stop me. The same counts for you, Leo. You may think you are immortal but I could snap you like a twig and your buddies up there would not be able to save you. They too don't know what they are doing. They can threaten to take away my whitelighter powers and to recycle my soul and I would like to see them try. But they don't have the authority nor the ability to do so. I am beyond all of your powers."

"Now listen closely because I'm going to tell this only once. My only reason to be here is to protect Wyatt and prevent his turning. You decided you don't need me and want me out? Fine, I will leave and do it all alone, like I have almost the entire time anyways. But I warn you. Don't ever get in my way if you know what's good for you."

Chris turned around, looking like he was about to leave. He looked back over his shoulder. As to add one last thought.

"Oh and one day, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but I can promise you, there will come a moment when you realize or discover some things. Figure some connections out. And on that day you will regret what you have done. It will tear you apart and consume you. I want you to remember that when that moment comes, that there will be no forgiveness for what you did. Never!"

And with these last words Chris orbed out in a cloud of gold, leaving behind three shocked sisters and one elder.

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And this concludes chapter 2 of my story.

I hope you Guys enjoyed it. Till next time! *Waves*


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Charmed. Someone else created the world where I play with the characters they populated it with, creating my own stories with the only purpose to entertain.

* * *

Hey fellow fanfictioners!

I remain stunned with the amount of people who read this story and all the positive feedback I get. I really appreciate all you guys taking some time out of your (busy) lives for reading this. So thank you all for the support.

Enjoy this next chapter!

Friendly Greetings,

Thomatshu

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"_Oh and one day, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but I can promise you, there will come a moment when you realize or discover some things. Figure some connections out. And on that day you will regret what you have done. It will tear you apart and consume you. I want you to remember that when that moment comes, that there will be no forgiveness for what you did. Never!"_

_And with these last words Chris orbed out in a cloud of gold, leaving behind three shocked sisters and one elder._

* * *

A couple of seconds went by in the attic after Chris had orbed out during which nothing happened. The sisters and Leo were too stunned to react to what had occurred. The magic Chris had used on the two sisters and the elder slowly vanished. Piper was let down gently from her position against the wall but Phoebe and Leo were not so lucky. The invisible hold on their throat suddenly disappeared and both fell to the ground, too weakened to catch themselves standing.

Paige rushed first to help Piper, who had gone through her knees. Sliding down on the floor. Although she hadn't been injured, she was the one who was pregnant after all.

"Are you alright?" Paige asked her.

"Yeah, I'm okay. He didn't hurt me, it was just a bit scary." Piper responded.

"Guess you two were the lucky ones." Phoebe groaned.

Paige helped Piper get up on her feet and they both made their way to their sister.

"Are you okay, Pheebs?"

"My back and chest are killing me. That kick connected a lot harder than I first thought."

"Probably should let Leo check up on it. Speaking of Leo, how are you holding up?"

"I have felt better. The electricity made me kind of numb so I don't feel too much at the moment. Guess it's going to get worse when I get sensation back." Leo spoke. "The burns already started healing though."

Piper helped Leo up on his feet.

"Let me take a look at you, Phoebe." He spoke, kneeling down next to her.

With his skillful fingers Leo examined Phoebe's chest and back.

"Your back just has a lot of bruises and some small cuts from flying through the furniture and against the wall. I'm quite sure the kick in your chest didn't break any ribs but it bruised two on the right. That's what is giving you some trouble breathing. You are lucky though, if he had kicked a bit higher on your sternum it would probably have been broken and could have punctured your long." Was Leo's diagnosis.

"That was no luck it was his skill. You could see it in the way he went from defense to attack in one motion. He is used to hand to hand combat." Phoebe responded. "The only person I have ever seen moving like that was Cole when we trained in the basement."

"Anyway let me try to heal you." Dismissed Leo Phoebe's remark.

Leo position his hands over Phoebe's ribs getting ready to let the familiar golden light do its magic. But nothing happened. He received some questioning gazes from the sisters before repeating his attempt. But again to no avail.

"Something wrong there, Leo?" Paige asked.

"For some reason I can't heal her bruises. The only reasons that would happen is if the other elders had taken away my powers, the wounds were self-inflicted or if the injuries were not the result of evil. The other elders would have let me know if they had taken my powers and these wounds are clearly not self-inflicted. So only the third option remains: it was not evil magic." Leo answered her question.

"If these were not a result of evil, I don't know what is." snorted piper.

"I don't agree with you, Piper." Paige said defending Chris. "I don't think that Chris is evil and he didn't attack you. He reacted out of self-defense when you used your powers on him. And then again when Leo did and after that when Phoebe tried to kick him. He didn't do anything to me and I'm the only one who didn't try to harm him."

"And I'm not blaming anyone here or saying that you guys had it coming." she added quickly, seeing Piper's face getting red. "I'm just saying that Leo may be right."

"Whatever the reason is, you will have to heal the mortal way, Phoebe. Let's go find a first aid kit and disinfect those cuts, patch you up a bit. Those bruised ribs should be fully healed in a week or two but you will have to take things easy for a while." Leo interrupted what would become an argument between the two sisters.

"But only after we get Wyatt back. Then we will also have the time to talk about what happened here." Phoebe added.

"The problem is that we know nothing about the order that took him or what they want with him. The only one who did was thrown out of this attic half an hour ago." Paige remarked.

"We don't need his help. We will find them and defeat them like we always do. Wyatt is my son. I am the one to protect him." Piper bit.

"You're the boss." Paige said sarcastically, while helping Phoebe out of the attic to find a first aid kit.

* * *

**Somewhat Later**

The three sisters orbed into the orders lair. They had been able to scry for Wyatt's presence and thus found the location where he was held. They had no idea what they would find there though. They prepared some generic vanquishing potions and brought some athames in the hope these would suffice.

What they saw upon entering the lair shocked them for a moment. In the middle of the room the leader of the order held Wyatt up, performing some sort of ancient ritual with the rest of the demons.

Recovering from the shock the sisters went to town. Piper blowing up demons left and right while Paige used the potions. Phoebe, despite her injuries, fought some order members in hand to hand combat with an athame.

It wasn't long before only the leader of the bunch remained. Piper, with the protectiveness of a lioness, raced towards him in order to get Wyatt out of his grasp. But before she could do so a blue shield threw her back.

"He protects me now." laughed the upper level demon. "You are too late. Nothing can stop us now."

What he had not noticed were the golden particles of an incoming orb behind him. As soon as Chris finished materializing he thrust his hand in the demons back, who started yelling in agony. The screams intensified the moment a light started shining from the demons chest, expending around his whole body, but turned to silence the moment he burned out of existence, only ashes the silent proof he had ever been present.

With their leader fallen, the incoming reinforces quickly retreaded, leaving in the room only the sisters, Wyatt and Chris.

"Didn't think I would see you girls so soon again. Thanks for the distraction though." Chris spoke up. "Now don't mind me and please continue with your fine plan. I'm just here to enjoy the spectacle."

Piper tried to walk through the blue shield again with the same result as before.

"Why can't we get through the shield?" she asked her sisters.

"Why is his shield still up? All the demons are gone." Phoebe asked.

"It's like he thinks we are a threat to him so he doesn't allow us near him." Paige said.

"Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner." Chris interrupted. "That is indeed the case. In fact they reversed his morality. In his mind what stood for good is now bad and the other way around. There is no way you can ever penetrate this shield or get to Wyatt in this state. Not unless you can reverse his morality again or you decide to join the side of evil. Any solutions for this problem?"

Silence fell in the cave. The sisters looking for an answer to Chris' question.

"Maybe we could write a spell to reverse it back." Phoebe suggested.

"That won't work." Chris replied. "Morality is so deeply linked with the soul that it is impossible to change the one without the other. If you tried a spell the alterations to his soul would be so severe that it would sever his connection with magic. He would never be able to get it back let alone return to the child you know."

"A potion wouldn't work for the same reason, Paige." Chris said to Paige, who had the word 'potion' ready on her lips.

"How did you know I would suggest a potion?" she asked intrigued.

"I have known you long enough to know it would happen." Chris smiled lightly.

"Phoebe's go to is a spell. Piper's is brute force attack. Yours are potions." His smile fading again when talking about his other aunt and mother.

"So neither spells nor do potions work. So what options are left?" Phoebe asked her sisters.

"There has to be a way. I mean both me and Phoebe have been turned evil in the past. So it is possible." Piper said frustrated.

"Ah but was your morality really turned at those events." Chuckled Chris. "Think about it. They played on your fears and frustrations but in the end the change in sides was your own chose. Nothing forced you or changed it for you."

"So you are saying that we chose to be evil?" Phoebe asked angrily.

"That is what I just said, yes. But that is not the most important thing at the moment. Remember, nephew, morality reversed …" Chris answered.

"So since I don't hear any new ideas let me recap. Your plan was to orb blindly into this lair and kill everyone." he said. "Looks like things went well." he added sarcastically.

"So now my question, what would you have done if I hadn't shown up? Because you would never have been able to kill the order's leader with Wyatt protecting him. It would most likely have been the other way around. And now even with the leader dead, there is nothing you can do to help Wyatt." Chris asked.

The sisters were silent. What could they say? None of them had an idea. Then Piper asked a question of her own.

"So you say Wyatt brings his shield up against things that are good. How is it possible then that you are able to get through?" she said smiling, thinking she had found proof that Chris was indeed evil.

"It is not because you are not powerful enough to penetrate Wyatt's shield that I'm not. I simply broke through when orbing in." Chris answered.

"Now back to your problem. This is what I mean with arrogance and overestimation of your powers. You always think things will go in your favor but that is not the case. If you had listened to me you would not even be in this situation. There won't always be people to clean up your mess." He continued.

"Remember I'm not helping you for you. I'm here to help Wyatt. Any benefits for you is just an added bonus for you girls."

With a wave of Chris' hand the scepter of the leader flew towards Piper to stop a couple of inches in front of her, floating steadily in the air.

"This is what they used on Wyatt. This order existed for over 4000 years with the only purpose to develop this device. Somehow they did what no one thought possible and succeeded. The beam the scepter emits changes morality without altering the soul. If you point it at Wyatt and activate it, it should reverse his morality back to normal without any side effects. Now it's up to you to decide if you can set your prejudices aside for a moment to save your child or if your unjustified hate for me blinds you too much." He finished.

Piper hesitated, not sure was she should do. She hated Chris and didn't trust him. But on the other hand she had no clue on how to safe Wyatt in another way either. Her son wouldn't let her come near him so taking him back to the attic and try to figure out things there was no option.

"Any of you got an idea of how to turn him back?" she asked pleadingly to her sisters.

"Sorry, honey, I got nothing." Phoebe answered, with an apologetic look.

"Me neither." Paige said. "But I think we need to trust Chris on this one. In all the time he was with us he never tried to harm Wyatt." She explained. "I see no reason why he would suddenly try to now. Chris' problem is with us, not your innocent son." Pleaded Paige.

"Fine. But I still don't trust you or want to see you near the manor again, Chris. And if this thing doesn't do what you say it does and returns Wyatt to his normal self, I will find you and vanquish you." Piper said reluctantly.

"You could always try to vanquish me but don't think you would ever succeed. But don't worry, you will not have to find out. The scepter will do exactly as I told you." Chris responded to the threat.

Reluctantly Piper took the floating scepter out of the air. She held it for a couple of seconds, feeling the weight and mentally convincing herself that she was making the right decision. Apparently coming to the conclusion that there was nothing else she could do, Piper pointed the scepter and fired. The beam shone into Wyatt's eyes. After a couple of seconds the beam stopped and Wyatt's shield went down.

Piper dropped the device she just used and ran towards her son. Before she got there though he orbed into Chris' arms making some gurgly sounds as if he was talking to Chris.

Chris was momentarily surprised but recovered quickly and returned the hug he received.

"I know, little one, I will miss playing with you too. But remember, your mommy and I may be fighting but if something happens or someone tries to hurt you, I will always be there to stop them. Now it's time for you to go home. Go to mommy." Chris said to Wyatt.

The little boy orbed from his arms into Piper's and before someone could say anything Chris was gone.

* * *

And there we are. Chapter 3 of "Not the people they will be" done.

I hope you enjoyed it. Till next time *salutes*


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Charmed. Someone else created the world where I play with the characters they populated it with, creating my own stories with the only purpose to entertain.

* * *

Heyo everyone,

I want to thank you all for reading. I'm honored by the compliments and positive reviews you decided to leave behind. I'm so grateful for this Charmed community that is still intact after all these years.

I know there isn't so much action in this chapter but there are some things that need to be addressed before things can get more exciting again :)

I still hope you enjoy the new addition.

Greetings to all,

Thomatshu

p.s.: As some of the reader have remarked, I took some liberties in the order of the episodes and in what events occur and which don't. The new sequence will be addressed in the story itself when it is necessary. For example in this chapter I explain the conception of Chris in the timeline. Should it become too confusing I will provide sort of a timeline for the events from the canon series later on since it's still subject to change :)

* * *

"_I know, little one, I will miss playing with you too. But remember, your mommy and I may be fighting but if something happens or someone tries to hurt you, I will always be there to stop them. Now it's time for you to go home. Go to mommy." Chris said to Wyatt._

_The little one orbed from his arms into Piper's and before someone could say anything Chris was gone._

* * *

Not wanting to spend any more time in enemy territory than strictly necessary, the Charmed Ones and Wyatt orbed back into the attic of the manor, where Leo was already waiting for them.

"Hey, my little man, it's good to have you back." He said, moving to hug his son.

"Yes it is. Could you check him out to be certain he is completely okay?" Piper asked nervously.

"Of course." Leo responded, starting to sense for any injuries. "Where did you find him and what happened there?"

Paige and Phoebe filled him in on the little they knew about the clan of demons and what they did while he examined his son.

"The part about a secret order could be true. I asked the other Elders what they knew about the demons that took Wyatt but no one could tell me anything about them. From the lack of records it seems that it's the first time the side of good ever directly encountered them. Although their existence could explain a lot of disappearances of witch children." He responded, thinking deeply.

"Luckily this one is completely healthy and unharmed." Was his verdict, rocking a fussing Wyatt in his arms.

"Thank god. I was so scared." Piper admitted, eyes watery. "Who knows what lasting effects they could have inflicted on him, those sick bastards."

"I know, honey, we were scared too." Phoebe tried to comfort her, hugging her and giving her a pat on the back.

"Is it true what Chris said?" Paige wanted to know. "About the inability and danger of changing morality with spells and potions?"

"Yes it is." Leo admitted with gritted teeth. "Due to the interconnection of morality and soul it is prohibited by all good magic to experiment on the topic. We believed it was impossible to change the one without the other. Till now, that is. I hope that with the destruction of the order also their knowledge will disappear. Because this information is too dangerous. They could force witches to join them against their will. The source wouldn't have to rely on the window of opportunity anymore and there would be nothing we could do to stop it from happening."

"Guess you made the right decision in following Chris' solution then, Piper." Paige added. "Not that we had much choice."

"Speaking of Chris. We need to discuss what happened earlier in the attic. Right after you girls went to get Wyatt I was called up there by the other Elders to an emergency meeting. We have some things to talk about." Leo spoke.

"Fine, I guess we can't keep putting this off. But let me first bring Wyatt to the nursery for a nap. With all the excitement he must be exhausted, the poor boy." Piper agreed reluctantly.

Piper took her son from Leo's arms and made her way out the door. Thinking this discussion was going to take some time, Paige decided to make herself comfortable. She made her way to the only still standing table, wondering if it was still stable enough to hold her weight. Deciding so she hopped on, sitting down on top of it. Her legs dangling over the edge.

Concluding she was comfortable enough, she directed her attention towards Phoebe and Leo.

"How are you holding up, Pheebs? Still in so much pain?" she asked her sister.

Phoebe's sigh told enough. "I can honestly say I have felt better in my life than I'm feeling at this moment. Breathing has become a bit easier than before although my breaths are a lot smaller than normally. So that's positive. My ribs still hurt like a bitch though. It feels like every movement I make puts pressure on my chest." She gritted her teeth when she moved her arms to demonstrate. "The worst part is that I'm no use in a battle at the moment. I tried in the cave earlier but without active powers and a body that refuses to work, I can't contribute much." Phoebe added bitterly.

"Hey, don't be so hard on yourself. Give it a week and you will feel much better." tried Paige to reassure her half-sister. "What about you, Leo? How are you holding up?"

"Not much better here. The numbness is gone now but boy did I wish it hadn't. The burns healed nicely but for some reason every muscle in my body hurts. I guess soreness from muscle spasms and such can't be healed, only endured. I tell you, getting electrocuted is not a fun experience." Leo responded.

"Yeah I figured that one out for myself." Paige replied. "Phoebe, when did you last take some painkillers?"

"Just before we went to get Wyatt. Could use some more though." Was Phoebe's answer.

"You best wait for an hour or two more. Then you can take some more before going to bed. I guess sleeping is going to be hard too." Said Paige.

"Urghh! Don't remind me." Grunted the middle sister.

"Please do remind me later to check the cuts on your back before going to bed tonight. Wouldn't want them still bleeding or getting infected." Said the youngest.

"What bleeding or getting infected?" asked Piper, reentering the attic after bringing Wyatt to the nursery for a nap.

"The cuts on my back." answered Phoebe. "And I promise I will, Paige."

"Now everyone is present let's get back to our promised discussion." tried Paige to focus everyone on the task ahead. "Let us kick off with the most important discovery we made."

She moved her gaze towards Piper.

"So." She started. "You are pregnant again, Piper?"

Piper sighed, hesitating before answering. "Yes, Chris told the truth on that topic. I am pregnant again."

"Why didn't you tell us before, sweetie?" Paige asked accusingly, wondering how Piper could not tell something that important to her sisters.

"How?" Phoebe asked as she didn't know her older sister was seeing anyone. "I mean I know how. But when? We didn't know you were seeing someone."

"Do you know who the father is?" asked Leo begrudgingly. He didn't like the idea of his ex-wife hooking up with other guys since he was still in love with her.

"You are, Leo!" Piper responded with anger clearly on her face and in her voice. Not liking what Leo's question implied. "Do you think I'm the sort of woman to randomly go pick up guys in a bar somewhere? Bring them in the same home as my son without knowing them?"

"That's not what I meant, Piper." Leo tried to avoid an argument. He had experienced before how her already legendary temperament got even worse when she was pregnant with Wyatt. He didn't like being blown up, so better prevent than cure. 'I didn't mean to imply anything."

"But how?" Phoebe asked again. "I didn't know you two mended thing and were seeing each other again."

"We aren't seeing each other again and we didn't mend things." Piper answered. "It happened when we got stuck in limbo with that darklighter chasing us. We were both hurt and we both needed comforting. It was just the two of us and one thing lead to the other. I don't think I need to paint the picture about what happened."

"When did you find out you were pregnant?" Paige wanted to know.

"A couple of weeks ago. I had my routine doctor check-up. Two days later he called with the results of my blood tests. I can tell you that I wasn't expecting that news. I think I almost fainted with the phone still in my hand." Piper answered.

"Why didn't you tell us then? Why did we have to find out from future boy?" Phoebe asked angrily.

"It's not like I told him and not you. I didn't tell anyone. I have no idea how he could have known. Only that he knew from the future." Piper started pacing around the attic.

"But that still not answers our other question. Why didn't you tell us before?" Phoebe interrupted.

"Because I needed time, okay? Imagine it. They told me that I probably would never get pregnant. I tried everything. I prayed. I begged whatever powers out there to give me my dream. Becoming a mother. I gave up hope that I would ever conceive. And then a miracle happened: I got pregnant. Wyatt is the greatest thing that ever happened in my life. The unthinkable happened. I was overjoyed and, although I would have liked to have more children, I made my peace with the fact that Wyatt would be my only one. I never imagined that another miracle would happen. Never imagined that I would be that lucky again." Piper explained. She took a deep breath, trying to control her emotions before continuing.

"And then suddenly I got a phone call from the doctor. I won the lottery a second time. A second miracle. Is it so hard to understand that I needed some time to process all this? Time to get my head wrapped around the fact that I was going to be a mom again. And a single mom this time. The first couple of months after Wyatt was born were not easy. And there were two of us then. All this meant I needed time to think things through. Weight my different options. Make some life decisions for myself and for my children without the pressure of my sisters or anyone else." Piper defended her actions.

"Wait!" Phoebe interrupted. "Do you mean you considered abortion?" she asked offended.

"What? No! That never even crossed my mind! A second child is everything I dreamed of." Piper deflected the accusation. "I meant things like the club and the house. I want to give my children the attention they deserve. So I figured I need to cut back on my hours working in the club. I thought about selling it but I couldn't. It's something I started when Prue was still alive and it was a token of our bond as sisters. And now it stands for our bond, Paige. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I got rid of that when it wasn't absolutely necessary."

"With regards to the house, that was only a problem before you all decided to move out. So I guess the extra space will come in handy."

"And there were more things I needed to think about and decide about on my own. So if things don't work out as I want them to, it is on me and me alone. I was going to tell you soon though. Chris just got there before me." She said bitterly.

"It is okay, Piper. We understand why you waited to tell us." Paige said to Piper, giving Phoebe a pointed look saying she better agreed if she wanted to avoid further bodily damage.

"Yes, we do, sweetie." Phoebe confirmed.

"And you are not alone, sis. You know we love to be aunts. You know we will be there to support you. However and whenever you need or want us to." Paige added.

"Yeah. We are going to be around so much you're going to be sick and tired of us." The other sister assured.

"Since we are talking about also my child, can I know where you see me coming in?" Leo suddenly asked.

All three sisters grew silent. Piper in thoughts and the other two not knowing what to do.

"Should we give you guys a minute alone? I mean this is something between the two of you. Not our business." Paige asked.

"No, it's okay." Piper answered. "And Leo, this child changes nothing between the two of us. You still made your choice to be an Elder and this child doesn't change that fact. That aside I won't stand in the way of you being a father for him or her if you wish so. In fact I would prefer that you want too. A child needs his father."

"I want to be a father for both of my children. So how do you see this working out?" Leo responded.

"If it is alright with you, we will just continue as it has been going on for visiting Wyatt for the moment. Should the situation change then we will make new arrangements."

"That sounds agreeable. Did you already had an ultrasound?" Leo enquired.

"Not yet. I have an appointment with Doctor Ava Nicolae next week. You know, the gipsy doctor we once helped. I figured if things started flying around the room during the check-up it wouldn't lead to questions." Piper responded. "I will make sure to bring you back a picture."

"You don't want me to come?" the Elder asked deflated.

"I don't think that would be such a good idea. We have to learn living our lives apart, Leo. You there on such an intimate moment would only be confusing." Piper reasoned.

"I would try to change your mind but if you think that it is for the best I respect your decision. Although I don't like it." Leo agreed reluctantly.

"Humhum!" cleared Paige her throat.

"Could we get a picture too?" finished Phoebe Paige's thought.

Piper rolled her eyes. "Yes girls, I will make sure to get each of you a picture."

"Now I hate to break this feel-good moment but I think we have some other things to discuss. What do you guys think? Did Chris tell the truth about Wyatt?" spoke Paige.

The mood went suddenly very dark.

Piper's eyes shot fire. "I can't believe you even have to ask. Of course it is not true. He is my son and the twice-blessed. From one of the longest lines of good witches in existence. The son of a whitelighter. Your nephew. He is destined to be the greatest source of good magic the world has ever seen. So he can't be anything but good."

"I'm right there with you, Piper! You just have to look at him and you know." Phoebe supported her older sister.

Paige had her own ideas on the topic so she stayed silent. Like her sisters she too didn't want to believe that the sweet boy she knew would ever be the source of all evil. But she had to look at the facts. Most of the family had for one reason or another had their evil phase. Was it such a long shot from there to the possibility that something like that had happened to her nephew? Wasn't this the type of arrogance that Chris had been talking about? The arrogance that they thought they were above such things?

She didn't believe that Chris was evil. So if things were as bad in the future that he had to come back to the past to prevent whatever happened from happening and if Wyatt wasn't evil, where was her nephew? If he was to be the greatest force of good magic the world will have ever seen, why hadn't he prevented or stopped what happened in the future? Or why didn't he come back himself?

So many questions and so little information. The only thing she was sure of was that they couldn't take risks. And if her sisters wouldn't see that, she would keep an eye out on her own.

"And I'm going to proof it. I will get the truth out of Chris one way or another. Even if I need to drag him in here at his hair and beat it out of him. I will prove that he is evil." Piper continued.

"I think that will be harder than you think, Piper." Leo interrupted, looking distressed. "The Elders called me up for an emergency meeting earlier. We got a big problem…"

* * *

And scene. I know it is a rather inconvenient place to end the chapter but it is a necessary evil. I hope you all enjoyed the new chapter.

Oh and if you find any grammar/spelling mistakes please do let me know so I can take care of them. I read the chapter three times myself but sometimes mistakes slip through :/

* * *

EDIT: Fixed some spelling/grammar mistakes. Shout-out to Chris's Adorer and Ryo-chan wolfgirl for reporting them.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Charmed. Someone else created the world where I play with the characters they populated it with, creating my own stories with the only purpose to entertain.

* * *

Hey everyone,

First of all I want to apologize for the amount of time between this chapter and the previous one. Since school started again I had much less time to write than I would have liked. On top of that was that I had some difficulties with the first part of this chapter. It's hard finding a balance between revealing things and keeping stuff hidden.

Either way I got though it and it resulted in this update. I hope you all enjoy it.

There are also some people I would like to thank. You all for leaving me such positive reviews. Please know that I read and appreciate every single one of them.  
Further I would like to thank Chris's Adorer and Ryo-chan wolfgirl for letting me know some grammatical mistakes that slipped through. I try to provide an as high as possible standard of story so I try to fix them all.  
I also want to thank the two people who added this story to two different communities. I am honored that you think it worthy of that.  
And last but not least I want to thank every one of you who continue to read this tale.

Cheers,

Thomatshu

* * *

"_And I'm going to prove it. I will get the truth out of Chris one way or another. Even if I need to drag him in here at his hair and beat it out of him. I will proof that he is evil." Piper continued._

"_I think that will be harder than you think, Piper." Leo interrupted, looking distressed. "The Elders called me up for an emergency meeting earlier. We got a big problem…"_

* * *

"What do you mean with 'big problem'?" Piper asked.

"When Chris first arrived, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. He just felt like any normal whitelighter. But when he called on his powers earlier today up here in the attic, the concentration of power that the Elders measured from up there was off the charts. I mean way off. Some off the highest readings they ever encountered in the last thousand years were you three, when you temporarily got your godly powers, and probably the titans. Not even the source at full power came even near that. Only Cole when he was invincible got close to that amount of power, being only a normal magical entity and not a god. But those readings didn't even came close to the one they got on Chris. And considering yours was the three of you combined and his on his own, I would say that qualifies as 'big problem'."

All of the three charmed ones were shocked. In the beginning, Chris had just been their neurotic and annoying whitelighter. Good under pressure but that was it. Then he was ousted by a, for so far the sisters could gather, rather traumatic event for him as more than he let them believe. Suddenly he got promoted from whitelighter to witchlighter, with his own powers. Earlier today he had revealed himself, in Paige's opinion forced by their actions, as even more. Taking out two of the charmed ones and an Elder in mere seconds and in their own attic. With seemingly no effort whatsoever. And now Leo told them he was more powerful than anything the Elders had ever faced before.

"But how?" Phoebe stuttered. "How can it be that no one noticed he had so much power? I mean isn't that kind of what you guys do up there?"

"That and deciding how everyone should live their lives." Piper snorted.

"We don't know how this happened. And that is what scares the other Elders possibly the most. Normally they can sense any concentration of magical energy. Big and small. That is how we identify all the witches before we offer them our help. The Elders' attention is pulled towards them and that pull is even stronger with whitelighters. So if he can hide that much power and his whitelighter side on top of it from us Elders, there is no saying what else is he capable of hiding." told Leo to the sisters, ignoring Piper's jab at the Elders.

"Is it possible for a normal witchlighter to be that magically gifted?" Paige wondered. "I never heard of a witch as powerful as you describe before and I read a lot about them because Piper ordered me to for her stupid tests. And you told us that we even as gods didn't came close to power he has."

"It hasn't happened before as far as we know. We can't say for sure, since a lot of the older Elders died in the Titan attack, but we think it's not. Although here he is. I mean the only way you girls came close was when you got elevated to gods! It has to be that he is something more than he says he is or than what we know about him. Otherwise there has to be another explanation." Leo explained.

"Something else he probably lied about to us." Piper remarked.

"He didn't lie about something else though. What Chris said about the recycling of his soul was true. In a panic move after they sensed his force, the Elders tried to recycle him. It didn't work. We can tell he does have a soul, so that is not the part giving us a problem. The problem is that however hard we try to, we can't seem to get any dominion over it. We can't explain why, it has never happened before. The other Elders are still up there trying to find out why we can't do it. They even got in touch with the Angel of Destiny and with the Angel of Death, to find out if they know more about him. But they are not really talking to us. They refuse to give any information on him. They even refuse to tell us if they know him or if there is anything special about him. And since they both transcend good and evil and don't answer to either of them, we can't force them to. They answer to no one but creation and magic itself." Said Leo.

"So there is no way the mighty Elders can get rid of him?" Piper asked frustrated. "So the one time we could benefit if they stepped up they let us hanging. So if they can't even fix this, what gives them the right to basically rule our lives?"

"I agree with you, Piper, but I think it is not the moment to talk about that right now. I think Chris is a little more pressing matter. So what you are basically telling us, Leo, is that we have pissed of what could possibly be the most powerful magical being to have ever existed. Well, that sounds reassuring." Phoebe interrupted.

"Basically, yes. That is a good summary." Leo confirmed.

"We had him on our side and now we pissed him off. He warned us not to intervene anymore." Paige asked. "So what now?"

"Now we do what we should have done. Force answers out of him." Piper responded. "We should have done it a long time ago. All the things he said about Wyatt are lies. And I will prove it."

"I understand that you don't want to believe him, Piper. But is challenging him again really our best course of action?" Paige tried to reason.

"We have faced bad situation before and always found a way to win. We always come out on top. We will do so again. And I will not have him telling lies about my son any longer!" Piper yelled.

"Piper, I agree that we need to get the truth out of him. But I don't know if a direct confrontation is the smartest idea. Maybe we can find another way to get it out of him. Like a spell or something. So we don't have to be face to face when we do it." Phoebe said. "That way he won't even know we know everything."

"I think Phoebe has the right idea here, Piper." Leo agreed. "A direct confrontation could be too dangerous. If you want I can ask around up there if they have any ideas. Meanwhile the Elders will continue trying to find a way to send him back to the future or to get rid of him."

"Alright. Maybe that is a better idea. But it's getting late and I want to go check up on Wyatt. Maybe we can start tomorrow on doing research." Piper conceded. "So good night."

"Good night." Both Phoebe and Paige responded.

"Good night. I'm going to ask around. I will let you know if I find anything." Leo responded, before orbing out.

All three sisters made their way to their respective room. Each with their own thoughts on their mind.

* * *

Paige couldn't sleep that night. After all that had happened that day, her brain was processing too much information to shut down. She had been turning around in bed for over an hour without any progress before she decided to get up and get something to drink. Finally decided, Paige made her way towards the corridor. But before she could go down the stairs she felt something strange. It was like she felt someone's presence. Like there was somewhere someone in the house that wasn't normally there. It was different from the feeling of danger you get when there is a demon in the house. Otherwise she would have started getting slightly scared. No, the sensation made her nervous at most.

Paige noticed that she had made her way to the stairs going up to the attic. She hadn't meant to do so. It was like she unconsciously wanted to be near whoever's presence she felt. Deciding to investigate, she made her way up as silent as she could.

She came up in front of the door, which wasn't completely closed. On her tip toes she went to look inside. Peaking cautiously round the edge of the door, she knew who was inside. It wasn't hard to recognize the dark form inside as their, as she now guessed, ex-whitelighter.

Chris stood in front of the Book of Shadows. Reading its content in the little amount of moonlight that fell through the window, from time to time turning the pages with a small hand movement. Paige stood there observing him for a couple of minutes.

"Wouldn't you rather come inside, Paige?" Chris suddenly asked, not looking up from the book.

Paige jumped a little, startled. She hadn't expected him to know she was here. But she should have known better. She considered her options for a second. She could orb down and wake her sisters or she could go in and talk to him, making sure he wouldn't come after them.

She opted for the second one. She pulled open the door, went inside and closed it again. Her sisters didn't need to know she talked to Chris. If they discovered it, Piper and Phoebe wouldn't be happy.

Paige turned around to face Chris, staying at a respectable distance.

"Surprised I noticed you?" he asked, finally looking up from the book.

Paige responded with a nod of her head.

"I sensed you before you became even aware of my presence in this house, something I allowed by the way. But I didn't need magic to know you were standing there." Chris responded. His eyes grew hard. "Living in a war zone for most of your teenage and adult years forces you to hone your senses. I heard your movement on the stairs. I even heard your breathing on the other side of the door."

The hardness in his eyes melted away again when he made eye contact. Paige couldn't suppress a shiver.

"Tell me something, Paige. Do you fear me? Do you tremble at the idea that because of your sisters I could come after you? Wipe you and your whole family from the face of the earth. Burry your existence into the pages of a history book?" he asked her.

Paige trembled at his words, temporarily stunned. Was she afraid of him? Yes, he could probably wipe them out if he wanted too. But for some reason she couldn't bring herself to truly fear him.

"No." she answered, hating how weak her voice sounded.

"Oh?" Chris said, looking pleasantly surprised. "If I may ask, why not? Logically you should."

"I just followed the evidence. As long as I have known you, you never hurt an innocent. I noticed how you put yourself in harm's way in order to protect us. I noticed what sacrifices you made and make to protect Wyatt. Yes, I noticed the way you lost even more weight and how the bags under your eyes have grown from the lack of sleep. I saw the looks you gave us when you thought no one was looking. Your behavior isn't consistent with that of someone who could wipe away an entire family because of what some individuals of that family did to you. You provided proof of that in the attic. I was the only one that didn't physically or magically tried to attack you and I was the only one you didn't touch." Paige justified her answer.

"Not all of us are ungrateful and blind to everything you do for us. Maybe it's only because you want to protect Wyatt and save your family and the world. Maybe not. Either way I am grateful for what you do." She spoke what had been running though her head since he first orbed out.

"Yes, you make me nervous sometimes. You are after all one of the strongest magical forces ever seen and we don't know much about you. But no, I am not afraid of you." Paige concluded.

Chris didn't know how to respond to that. It had been months since he last heard such friendly words spoken to him. But in his opinion, she thought him more than he was, something he needed to correct.

"You are right. I don't mean you any harm. Hell, I even don't mean harm to your sisters. I don't really care about what happens to them anymore but that doesn't mean that I have the intention to see them hurt. But you forget one thing. I stand by what I said earlier. My mission is to protect Wyatt and save my family and the future. Whoever stands in my way will bear the consequences. You don't see me as capable of wiping out families but I have done it before. I exterminated whole races and organizations simply because they threatened my family, or rather what was left of it. I killed entire clans of creatures because they came after someone I loved. I made an example out of them. I taught everything and everyone out there to think twice before coming after someone under my protection. Not because I wanted to but because I had to. Because I was forced to. Because there was no one else."

Paige shivered at these words. What was ever worse was the hollowness in his eyes. They were a testament to everything he had to do. All to protect the ones he loved. You could hear in his voice that he wasn't proud of what he had done. He wasn't apologizing for it either but he didn't like doing what he had done.

She could understand this feeling. She and her sisters had gone through the same. Hell, they were still going through it sometimes. If someone threatened their family all bets were off too. It was the only way you survived in this endless fight of good and evil. And from what she had gathered from the little Chris had explained or let slip, it was even worse in the future. With the sides of good and evil blurred and the two sides merged, she could imagine that you never knew where the next danger was going to come from. In a war friends were a luxury that most people couldn't afford. The person that saved your life one day could be the person to take it from you the next. Everyone doing what they had to for their survival.

"I understand. I don't know what it was like in the future but I do know how it is to do everything to save your loved ones." Paige said, hoping to convey her sincerity in her words.

"And I don't know if it changes anything or if you even care about what I think of you. But I believe you when you say you are here to save Wyatt. I'm not so blind to think that simply because of the family line we are born from that we are immune to the temptation of evil. There is the prophecy but who knows if it's accurate."

"Oh it is accurate. The prophecy is about Wyatt. But it's the meaning that is given to it that is wrong. I don't know if you remember but it goes as follow: When three planets burn as one over a sky of dancing light, Magic will rest on a holy day to welcome a twice blessed child." Chris recited. "Tell me, Paige. What do you think it means?"

Paige thought for a minute. Chris had said that its meaning was mistaken.

"Well it speaks of a child with exceptional magical powers, to be born on holy day under specific conditions." She tried.

"Correct so far. But you missed something. What is lacking in the prophecy?" Chris encouraged her.

Suddenly she saw what he meant, like a light had popped up in her head, illuminating the answer.

"The prophecy only speaks about an exceptionally powerful magical user. It doesn't say anything about its loyalties. Whether he or she would be good or evil." Paige spoke.

"Exactly! And that is the problem with the Elders and your sisters. They see what they want to see. Not what is actually there, right in front of them. The child they speak about could be the savior of the world or he could become the ultimate destroyer of it. Another possibility is that it could simply be. Not caring about sides. Being its own side." Chris explained.

"That is what happened to Wyatt. He thought that good and evil were but words. Used to distract people from what is really important. From the only thing that in his eyes means something: power." Chris breathed heavily. As if thinking about this whole subject made his blood boil.

"That is Piper's problem. She may use the prophecy as evidence all she wants. But what value does faulty evidence have?" he asked her.

Paige didn't know how to respond. Again she was given proof of the incompetence of the Elders and of the arrogance of them and her sisters. She also had a hard time processing what he told about Wyatt. It was one thing to believe that he succumbed to the temptation of evil. It was another to know that he discarded the whole idea of good and bad.

"I should get a better handle on my emotions. Again they make me reveal too much." Chris turned around to look at her, his eyes softening. "You asked me if it changed anything, knowing that you believe me. The answer is yes. It means more to me than you could ever know."

Suddenly Paige realized Chris had closed the distance between them. Slowly he raised his right hand, gently cupping her cheek. Caressing it with his thumb.

It was a strange feeling for Paige. She couldn't remember them ever having any real physical contact before. He had orbed them around before but at the time they had grabbed a hold at his forearm, his long sleeved t-shirt as an isolating layer between them. It wasn't an unpleasant change.

Paige could feel his palm on her cheek. The inside of his hand felt soft in places, alternated with the rougher feeling of what she guessed to be scars.

Suddenly Chris seemed to wake up from whatever trance he was in earlier. He quickly took a step back, lowering his hand. He looked a bit uneasy. A feeling they shared.

"Uhm. Yes. Uhm. Now what I came for." He said, breaking the rather uncomfortable silence. He let his gaze go around the attic, searching something.

"What are you looking for?" Paige enquired.

"The device the demon clan used to change Wyatt's morality. No one should have that kind of power over people. Neither the evil nor the good side. It is too tempting to use as a solution for problems. Or to get someone on your side. Trust me, I know." Chris answered.

Suddenly the scepter materialized in his hand.

"There it is."

"What are you going to do with it?" Paige asked.

"Destroy it. To make sure all evidence it ever existed is gone. I vanquished the remaining of the order and destroyed any documentation they had on it before coming here. So this is the last remaining loose end. But not for long." Chris told Paige.

He looked like he was about to orb out but hesitated for some reason.

"Look, Paige. I know you are not your sisters. And from what you told me here earlier, I can tell you have your own thoughts. Although you are the youngest of the charmed ones, you have the most adult view on things of the three of you. For some reason you trust me. I'm going to return that trust. I'm not going to ask you to speak on my behalf or that you keep your sisters under control, god knows that's impossible. No, what I'm going to do is come when you call me. If a situation is too dangerous for you just call me and I will be there, as long as it doesn't interfere with keeping Wyatt safe. Or should you just need to talk. But for that last one I will only come when neither your sisters nor Leo are present. I trust you to not betray this trust."

Before Paige could answer Chris dissolved in golden light.

* * *

That concludes this chapter. Remember: please report mistakes I made.

See you guys next time =)


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